1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a motor driven apparatus for straightening the leads of a pin grid array in an efficient, economical and reliable manner.
2. PRIOR ART
As will be known to those skilled in the art, a pin grid array (PGA) device has a multiplicity of pin leads which extend perpendicularly outward from a face of a generally planar microelectronic substrate or body. The pin leads are aligned in rows so as to form a pattern or grid, which is sometimes referred to as a rank and file arrangement. The pattern or grid is usually square (i.e. the rows and columns of pin leads extend identical distances across the face of the PGA body. The number of pin leads frequently reaches 100 or more and permits the circuits of the microelectronic body to be electrically interconnected with a utilization device at a suitable electrical receptacle.
During manufacture, testing, shipping, and the like, some of the leads may be undesirably bent so that they no longer extend perpendicularly outward from the face of the PGA body. Because the leads are either bent and/or moved out of alignment with one another, it is extremly difficult to electrically connect the PGA to an electrical receptacle.
It has heretofore been common to manually straighten the bent leads of a PGA. More particularly, a worker using tweezers and a magnifying glass would laboriously straighten the leads, one at a time. Such manual activity is notoriously time consuming, inefficient and, consequently, costly, especially when the leads of a large number of PGA devices are in need of straightening and rearranging in perpendicular alignment with the face of the PGA body. What is more, the leads are often susceptible to damage during the manual handling and lead straightening technique. Damage to one or more leads may require that the entire PGA device be scrapped. Since a PGA device is relatively expensive, the scrapping of a large number of devices will undesirably increase the overall manufacturing costs.